"Police Brutality" has taken many Black lives and continues to devastate the families of it's victims. We must take a stand and speak out. Sign petitions, arrange protest, speak about it on radio, website publications and use any other vehicles to spread the word. There are also many other senseless acts committed by Police which must be exposed. This page will consist of updates on current Police Brutality cases. 

 8 Year Old Girl Handcuffed and Thrown in Jail For Throwing Tantrum

An 8 year old girl was handcuffed and jailed after she threw a tantrum at school, according to KMOV-TV.  Little Jmyha Rickman’s troubles began when the Love Joy Elementary School student in Alton, Ill, reportedly threw a tantrum at school, and someone at the school responded to the 8 year old’s actions by calling the police. Rickman reportedly has a history of throwing tantrums at school, and instead of dealing with the tantrum as trained professionals, officials at Rickman’s elementary school passed the little girl off to police. After the police arrived, the little girl was handcuffed, put in the back of a police car, and driven to jail like a common crook, where she remained for 2 hours.

Rickman’s guardian said the girl was handled inappropriately by police, and had welts on her arm and swollen eyes from crying once she was released from police custody. Kristie Baumgartner, assistant superintendent of the Alton School District, responded by saying she could not comment on specifics of the incident, citing Illinois privacy laws regarding children. However, she did acknowledge school district policy, which says that if a student is at risk of harming themselves or others. Baumgartner also admitted that the school did call police. “As a last resort we sometime have to involve law enforcement”  she said. “They take the student into protective custody when the parent refuses to pick up the child.”

Oakland Cops Point Guns at a Sleeping Baby

 The latest report on Oakland Police Department misconduct made by independent monitor Robert Warshaw has revealed numerous irregularities and several shocking incidents involving Oakland cops. Perhaps the most improper use of force took place during a house search, when two police officers pointed their guns at a sleeping 19-month-old baby. It was obvious that the child couldn’t pose any threat to them, but they put its life in danger anyway. According to the report, the crime they were investigating involved a misdemeanor offense. Warshaw didn’t include any other details about this incident, but he listed several complaints that include unnecessary use of force and general hostility towards the residents as well as failing to resolving Occupy Oakland related investigations. The officers’ refusal to cooperate with internal affairs has prevented many individuals from being held responsible for their actions. Supervisors were reluctant to take disciplinary action even when presented with clear evidence like videos of incidents. Robert Warshaw turned the report in to federal judge Thelton Henderson who is currently choosing a compliance director to supervise Oakland Police Department.

Darrin Hanna

Unarmed teen killed shot in back by officer

Another Black male shot dead by police, once again, will not receive protection under the law.A Fulton County grand jury has decided not to indict Union City police office Luther Lewis for shooting 19-year-old Ariston Waiters to death on Dec. 11, 2011, Police were called to break up a fight on the night of Dec. 11. Somehow, Lewis and Waiters got into an altercation and the officer ended up shooting the teen. The autopsy report shows that Waiters was shot in the back. Police insist that Waiters reached for Lewis’s gun. Waiters was unarmed. The attorney representing Waiter’s family, Mawli Davis, says that the family is disappointed about the jury’s decision not to indict officer Lewis. But added that they are not giving up their fight to seek justice for the slain teen.

"We’re not done. This family’s not done. They’re just hurting. Hurting in an unimaginable way. It’s just beyond belief that he’ll get to go back to work and she’ll never see her son again," said Davis." said attorney Mawli Davis. Officer Lewis says he is not sure if he will return to work over fears some in the community may hold "hostility" towards him. Waiters is the second teen shot dead by cops in Georgia in a three month period. Joetavius Stafford was shot by a MARTA police officer in October. That shooting is under investigation by the Fulton County prosecutor’s office.

Teen beaten while unconscious by officers

A former Houston police officer has been let off the hook for the vicious beating of a 15-year-old suspected of committing a burglary. Andrew Blomberg was found not guilty on the misdemeanor charge of official oppression, for attacking Chad Holley. The 29-year-old was the first of four police officers to stand trial for kicking and beating the teen. While on the stand, Bloomberg testified to have done nothing wrong, blaming Holley for resisting arrest. In contrast, Holley, now 18, testified that he did not resist arrest and momentarily lost consciousness during the assault. Security footage, captured at the scene show the victim lying on the ground while being beaten by at least five officers kicking him in the head, abdomen and legs. Holley's beating elicits memories of Rodney King who was famously attacked by Police officers 20 years ago. The act of police brutality—also caught on tape—was the motivation behind the L.A Riots, which caused the city $1 billion in damaged. Like Holley, King's attackers also went free.

Police Officer Kicks Pregnant woman in stomach

A white police officer in Georgia is under criminal investigation for allegedly kicking a Black woman who was nearly nine-months pregnant in the stomach before charging her with obstruction of justice. In an incident report filed on Dec. 12, 2011, Dekalb County Police Officer Jerad Wheeler wrote that he gave "three verbal commands to 'Get back'" to Raven Dozier. The woman was in her third trimester at the time and visibly distraught over witnessing Wheeler taser her brother, Darius Usher, in response to a domestic disturbance. Wheeler wrote that Dozier began "moving aggressively," prompting the officer to "kick her in the stomach to push her back," just as he was "taught to do in the Academy," according to the report.

Approximately six months later -- following an overlooked internal affairs complaint and a premature birth by C-section -- Dozier is suing the county as the district attorney investigates Wheeler's actions. "This officer is just another loose cannon," Dozier's attorney, Mark Bullman, told The Huffington Post. "And I don't know how a 180-pound pregnant woman comes at you aggressively." Bullman says that Wheeler, at the advice of his supervisor, arrested Dozier because he would "need to be justified" for kicking a pregnant woman if "something were to happen to the baby." Police charged Dozier with obstruction and disorderly conduct, a "higher charge than the guy they tased," Bullman said.

"At the time of the altercation it was very dark and Ms. Dozier had a larger shirt on," Wheeler wrote in his report. "I could not tell by the sight of her at the time that she was pregnant." Wheeler placed Dozier in the back seat of his vehicle and brought her to the police station. Authorities gave her a choice. "They asked me did I want to go to jail or to the hospital," Dozier later wrote in a complaint filed with the Dakalb County Police. "I said I wanted to go to the hospital." Doctors could already see contusions and spotting, according to Bullman. The attorney says that the infant became ill within the womb as a result of defecation from the impact. Following the hospital visit, police returned Dozier to the station "where she was refused by intake," according to the police report. Authorities gave Dozier a court date and released her.Records show that Dozier filed a complaint with the DeKalb police department's internal affairs unit, but authorities never investigated the incident. Instead, four supervisors and an internal affairs detective approved the actions, stating that the use of force met policy, WSBTV reported.

The Dekalb District Attorney's Office has since dropped the charges against Dozier, who is now suing a county where her attorney says police officers are "off the chain." On Thursday, three other Dekalb county cops were charged with beating teenage suspects, some of whom were in handcuffs at the time, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Wheeler is also the focus of two other questionable incidents in which he is accused of killing an innocent family's leashed dog and forcing a 53-year-old woman's face onto a police vehicle. Two weeks after being kicked in the stomach, Dozier prematurely delivered her child by C-section. Her son, Levi, is doing well.

Autopsy Results Reveal Murdered College Student Shot 7 Times, Then Cuffed By Police 

After cell phone store worker Oscar Carrillo lied to authorities that the two men who stole his backpack were armed, Jeff Newlen and Mathew Griffin came to the scene. Soon after, they began pursuing McDade who was on foot. Reportedly, when the student allegedly reached for his waistband, one of the officers, who was said to be sitting in the patrol car, fired four rounds at McDade. The second officer, who was on foot, fired yet another four rounds because he “believ[ed] his partner was involved in a firefight.” Both Newlen and Griffin went on record, stating that they realized McDade was unarmed after they had already shot him. Even more upsetting, though, is that the coroner was able to determine that McDade was handcuffed for a period of time after the shooting. Of course, Pasadena Lt. Phlunte Riddle quickly defended the officers’ actions of handcuffing the teen after he had already been shot. “Procedurally, until an individual has been deemed to be no further threat, the officer can use discretion to unhandcuff,” said Riddle.

When the paramedics reportedly got to the scene, McDade was still conscious, even though he had been shot several times and remained handcuffed in his condition. In the report, during this time, McDade was called “combative.” Still, 90 minutes later, McDade died of his injuries at Huntington Memorial Hospital. The autopsy would later show that of the 7 bullets that hit McDade, at least three of them were fatal because they went through major arteries. The L.A. Times reports:

Three of the wounds — two in his abdomen and one in his right arm — are considered potentially fatal because they lacerated arteries, according to Pasadena police. One bullet entered through the back of the right arm and another the back of the right forearm. On March 24th, Carillo lied to 911 call dispatchers, telling them that two armed Black males had robbed him of his backpack, which reportedly included a laptop. Carillo’s claim that the males were armed reportedly caused the officers to pursue the suspects aggressively, causing McDade’s unfortunate demise. McDade’s parents, Anya Slaughter and Kenneth McDade, have filed a federal lawsuit.

Cellphone Mistaken For Handgun

Friends, family and community members are outraged by the tragic, senseless death of 22 year-old Rekia Boyd, who was shot by an off-duty Chicago police officer near Douglas Park. Around 1 am last Wednesday, an off-duty officer approached a group of people in his car and asked that they quiet down. One of the individuals, 39 year-old Anthony Cross, approached the officer. Thinking he was holding a gun, the officer open-fired, striking Cross in the hand and (inadvertently) Rekia Boyd in the head. Rekia died later that afternoon. Initially, Chicago police called the incident “justifiable;” however no weapon was ever recovered from the scene. Cross says he was holding a cell phone, not a handgun. The Boyd family want justice for Rekia.

“Witnesses told ABC 7 Wednesday that no one pulled a gun on the off-duty officer. And prosecutors only charged the man who police say had a gun with aggravated assault, a misdemeanor. “There were 60-70 people in the park and no one had a gun. Everyone was just out there to hang out, that’s it,” said witness Leo Coleman on Wednesday. Coleman is the alleged gunman’s cousin. Boyd’s large family from south suburban Dolton sees similarities between what happened to her and the case of the unarmed Florida teen shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer. “First you got Trayvon, now you got Rekia,” Sutton said. “Senseless, senseless violence. It didn’t have to happen.” The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting.” There will be a rally to demand justice for Rekia Boyd. The rally info can be found on this facebook dedication page. Click the following link. https://www.facebook.com/events/275562805857192/#!/events/275562805857192/

 Rekia Boyd Video details

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The Outrageous NYPD Murder of Ramarley Graham

A confused six-year-old boy stands in front of his home in the Bronx, crying. Neighbors say they heard him say, “They shot my brother.”

Eighteen-year-old Ramarley Graham lies dying on the floor of an upstairs bathroom. A member of the NYPD had just shot him in the chest, close range with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. A security camera video shows Graham walking up to his house, entering, and closing the door. A few seconds later, NYPD officers, guns drawn, come into the picture. They run up to the door and begin kicking it. They break into the house. Moments later Graham is shot. Initial news reports repeat police claims that Graham had a gun. But these stories quickly fall apart as witnesses, the security video (which at least 63,000 have viewed), and the non-existence of a gun reveal that in fact—there was no gun! The police also claimed they found a small packet of marijuana in the house. To this, one young man spoke for many when he said, “They telling us he had weed. So what! They take a man’s life over a bag a weed! That’s bullshit!” There is more. The police took Patricia Hartley, Graham’s grandmother, into custody. She was in the house during the police break-in and murder. Ms. Hartley was held for five and a half hours against her will and according to reports was interrogated by the police and representatives from the District Attorney’s office about what she saw. The family reported that Ms. Hartley was coerced to sign some sort of statement. All this while she was denied a lawyer or contact with family and supporters.

A few days before the murder of Ramarley Graham, four NYPD officers were caught on a cell phone video, in another Bronx neighborhood, savagely beating 19-year-old Jatiek Reed. The video shows Reed being thrown to the sidewalk and repeatedly kicked, punched, and struck with batons as bystanders scream for the cops to stop the beating. Then you see a cop turn on the person recording the incident, threatening them with a mace canister. After this, the police searched for a man who had yelled from an apartment window for the cops to stop the beating. And when they found him, they beat him up too. In the days after the murder of Ramarley Graham and the beating of Jatiek Reed, hundreds of people from the Bronx and around the city rallied to condemn these outrages and to support the families of the victims. People with the Occupy movement, the STOP “Stop & Frisk” campaign, students, artists, and Black, Latino, and white youth joined others and marched on the police precincts in the area. A crowd of 100 people listened to local officials at a press conference on Saturday, February 4, who called for an investigation of Graham’s death. Suddenly a young man on a bicycle pedaled into the crowd, loudly speaking bitterness about the police. Some officials tried to shut him down but he was unrelenting. When two plainclothes cops began to move toward him, the mood of the crowd shifted in an instant. The anger and impatience, just beneath the surface, erupted and galvanized to defend the right of the man to speak out. The crowd began to march, chanting, “Fuck the Police” and “Police are NOT part of the 99%.”

Along the way folks grabbed up copies being handed out by revolutionaries of the “The Revolution We Need… The Leadership We Have: A Message, and a Call, from the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.” One young woman told Revolution,after hearing about the movement for revolution and the possibility for a different kind of world, “It’s about time. We need a Plan B because this is not working.” At the 47th precinct rally, Ramarley Graham’s sister told the angry crowd, “This is not just about Ramarley. This is about all young Black men.” Placards read, “Justice for Ramarley and Jatiek!” and “NYPD=KKK!” Defiant protesters stood nose-to-nose with police. On Monday, February 6, hundreds turned out for a rally and march in the Bronx. Frank Graham, Ramarley’s father, told the crowd, “We are human beings. Stop treating us like animals.” “My son did nothing wrong. I want justice for my son, my baby.” Outrage about these two incidents has spurred a bearing witness among the oppressed, a collective speaking out about all kinds of bitter experiences with the police: stop and frisk; illegal stops; warrantless searches; arrests for no reason; beatings; drawn guns; prison terms; and cold-blooded murder. Over and over again, people express their deep hatred for having to live this way. And many who have not directly experienced this abuse are learning about it and being moved to stand against it.

Woman Raped By The Cop Who Responded to Her 911 Call

After having a her bathroom window smashed with a brick and with someone kicking in her front door, a 19-year-old mother of two dialed 911 for help. The ones who were supposed to serve and protect made this young woman’s life hell when they came to the rescue. Two officers came to the scene, and while one of them took her 15-year-old brother outside to talk to him, officer Ladmarald Cates entered the house and sent the girl’s boyfriend to the store to get him some water, under the excuse that he only drank bottled water. While the boyfriend, who has a pronounced limp, was on his way to the store, the girl took the officer to the bathroom to show him the brick and the shattered glass. He quickly grabbed her by the back of her head and raped her. The other officer was concerned about him staying inside for so long, so he called for backup. Other cops arriving to the scene witnessed a woman in shock running out of the house and screaming about being raped. Cates cuffed her and brought her in for an alleged assault of his partner, calling her rape accusations a lie. The girl was kept in prison for four days, and suffered a severe emotional trauma that resulted in two suicide attempts. She finally gathered the strength to find an attorney and begin her battle for justice. DNA evidence made Cates change his story claiming there was a consensual intercourse, until he was finally convicted for rape.He’s facing a maximum of life sentence on a trial in April. The girl who chose to remain anonymous as a rape victim was glad to see justice finally served.

Cop Cuffs Black Men, Says 'I'll Make Stuff Up'

See the video after this post. A Seattle police officer has been caught on tape saying "I'll make stuff up" when arresting two black men who were later found to be innocent, according to Komo News. Officer Brad Richardson and his partner stopped Josh Lawson and Christopher Franklin on Nov. 16, 2010, after they got a dispatch call about "two tall, skinny African Americans," both wearing jeans, who were committing a crime nearby. Richardson, who never questioned the two men about the crime when he stopped them, made a "felony stop," with his gun out. Lawson, who is 6 feet tall, was wearing white sweatpants. Meanwhile, Franklin is just 5 feet 9. On the tape, which was recently released, an officer says, "Well, you're going to jail for robbery, that's all." You then hear Franklin ask, "For robbery?" And the officer responds, "Yeah, I'm gonna make stuff up." Both men said that they suffered facial bruises and other injuries. Officer Richardson claimed that both men ignored his commands when he had his gun drawn. An SPD sergeant who reviewed the tape said that what the officer said was inappropriate, but meanwhile, the SPD completed an investigation and exonerated the officer. It shouldn't make a difference, but it's worth noting that both men lacked criminal records, went to school and had full-time jobs. They were never charged. They have now filed a claim against the city for excessive force and wrongful arrest. It looks as if these men were simply guilty of being black men in a city with a small number of black males. Hopefully the officers will be appropriately punished and the young men financially compensated.

Cops sued in fatal stop (Philadephia, PA)

(Carolyn Moses, mother of a man killed by Philadelphia Police, at lawsuit announcement.)

Moses’ family filed a lawsuit against six officers involved in the shooting, alleging use of excessive force against Moses and the driver of the car he was riding in – neither of whom, an attorney for the family said, was armed at the time.

Crime-scene investigators counted more than 60 shell casings, said the attorney, Paul Hetznecker. “There were no weapons found in the car and no allegations that any weapons were thrown from the car,” he said. Police declined to comment. Hetznecker said Moses was a passenger in a stolen Chevy Impala driven by Frederick Bell, now 38, on the afternoon of Feb. 8, 2011. The Impala allegedly had been involved in a carjacking 10 days earlier, and police began tailing it before boxing it in at 23rd Street and Susquehanna Avenue. One police vehicle, Hetznecker said, crashed into the front driver’s-side panel of the Impala, immobilizing the car. At some point, officers opened fire, killing Moses and critically injuring Bell, Hetznecker said. Neither man was armed, he said, but officers reported that Bell had moved the car, causing them to fear for their safety. He said other officers reported that someone had shouted, “Gun!” before the shots were fired. A YEAR AGO this week, Jamil Moses, 24, a father of three, was fatally shot by police during a car stop in North Philadelphia.

Hetznecker said the shooting appeared to be part of a “pattern of police shootings over the last few years.” “Our society invests a tremendous amount of power in the Police Department to enforce the law, and rightfully so,” Hetznecker said. “But that power must coincide with an unwavering respect for the civil rights of citizens. This particular case is an extreme use of excessive force, unwarranted under any scenario.” Christine O’Brien, a Philadelphia Police Department public affairs officer, said officials could not comment on pending litigation. Named as defendants were narcotics Officers John McCarron and Mark Oliveras and 35th District Officers Joseph Burke, George Fox, Craig Coulter, and Brandon Bryant. At the time of the shooting, police officials described it as justified after a high-speed chase through North Philadelphia that ended only when the stolen car rammed police cars blocking its way. Police said that the car’s two occupants had long criminal histories and refused to get out of the car and that one appeared to be reaching under his seat. Officers around the car opened fire, killing Moses, who was in the front passenger seat, and critically wounding driver Frederick Bell. Hetznecker said his investigation raised doubts about the circumstances leading to the shooting. He said vehicle damage made it more likely that the police cars struck the stolen car, a Chevrolet Impala sedan, than that the car rammed the cruisers. “This was not a high-speed chase, this was a slow-speed chase,” added J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the local NAACP chapter, who joined Hetznecker and Carolyn Moses to announce the suit. No gun was found in the stolen car or on the two men, Hetznecker said. Both men had criminal records. Bell, 38, served several short prison terms for convictions on theft and escape charges and a 31/2- to seven-year term for gun possession.

Police Ofificer Molest two 4 year old girls

 A police officer who dressed up as a clown and performed for children charged guilty for sexual assault involving two 4 year old girls. Michael Fernsler, 34, of the 3700 block of Orrstown Road, Franklin County, faces a maximum of 95 years in prisonand as much as a $80,000 fine. Police received a report from a township resident that her two foster children had been molested by a friend of the family. The girls were then taken to Harrisburg Hospital where they were examined. Medical evidence corroborated the girls’ stories. When he was arrested, Fernsler admitted molesting the two girls and said he was seeking counseling because he was addicted to pornography. Fernsler had positioned himself to be near children, authorities said. In a 2004 Patriot-News story, Fernsler said his clown act had landed him invitations from nursing homes, hospitals and day-care centers. Fernsler, who had a form of sex with one of the girls in front of her sister, pleaded guilty to one count each of indecent sexual intercourse, unlawful contact and indecent assault as well as two counts of corruption of a minor. Fernsler was a North Londonderry Twp. patrolman for almost two years. Before that he was a Baltimore County, Md., police officer for four years. He had also served three years in the Army.

Innocent Truck Driver Police Brutality

Joseph Sushak, a black man, was attacked by police on his way home. Cops allegedly mistook Joseph for a wanted Asian man…who looked nothing like the suspect. A black Tennessee man of Nigerian descent was brutally beaten by police in a case of mistaken identity, according to theDaily News Journal. What makes the case even more confounding is that the man he was mistaken for happened to be Asian. “They first thing I said was, ‘Do I look like this guy, as black as I am? Do I look like this guy?’ They say ‘Sorry, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time,’ ” 58-year-old Joseph Sushak told the journal. The Murfreesboro Police claim they mistook Sushak for a man they were after during a car chase. The chase ended when the driver, who is 28 and from Laos in Southeast Asia, stopped his car and ran into a home near where Sushak lived. “I came out my door and … I walked over, and four or five of them showed up and pulled their guns on me,” Sushak said. “They had me get on the ground and said to do it right now, and if I didn’t they would shoot me. They told me to get down and put my hands on my head, and I did.” They then began to kick him in the head and all over the body. After he was handcuffed and put into the police car, another group of officers turned up and told the other cops he wasn’t the suspect they were looking for. Sushak was treated at a local emergency room for injuries sustained during the incident. We hope that Sushak receives justice for this outrage committed against him.

Black woman Beaten by Police for recording brutality

A woman who said she was beaten when she tried to record an alleged incident of police brutality last week plans to set off an investigation through the Houton Police Department, said one of the activists behind the effort. Annika Lewis, 26, went to HPD headquarters Monday to obtain documents that she planned to file with the department's internal affairs division on Tuesday, activist Deric Muhammad said. The decision came as police representatives declined to respond to specific questions about the alleged incident. "For this incident to be investigated they need to file an internal affairs division complaint," HPD spokesman Victor Senties said. Muhammad said the family was in contact with the FBI about an investigation into excessive use of force. "We certainly always encourage anyone who believes that they've been a victim of civil rights violations through the use of excessive force by law enforcement to contact the FBI," FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said. "We take all allegations of civil rights violations very seriously." Lewis, at a press conference on Sunday, said police officers twisted her arm behind her back, forced her to the ground by her hair, punched her in the face and then later took the memory card from her cell phone, which she had used to record the violent arrest of her husband, Sebastian Prevot, 29. Police had attempted to stop Prevot early Friday for "moving violations," Senties said. Prevot disregarded the police vehicles, which began following him on the 4800 block of Yellowstone, he said.

That address is within 1.5 miles of the couple's home, on the 5000 block of Madalyn Lane. Prevot's attorney, Robert Collier, said Sunday that police attempted to stop Prevot after he passed a white line before stopping at a stop sign within three blocks of the home, which is why Prevot pulled over outside his house and got out of the car with his hands up, Collier said. He was then tackled and beaten, Collier said. Finding the factsPrevot was arrested and charged with evading arrest. He was released on bail, according to court records. Senties offered the same response, calling on the couple to initiate an internal affairs division investigation into the incident when asked about several events, including: Whether police tackled, punched, kicked or hit Prevot with a baton and why they might have done so; Why Lewis' memory card may have been taken; And why Lewis, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 103 pounds, may have been violently pushed to the ground by multiple officers. A police report on the incident noted that "a second suspect was detained at the scene after walking onto the scene after being told to leave," Senties said. Lewis said she was standing on her lawn and recording before an officer approached her and said, "Didn't I tell you to put that (expletive) phone up?" She said she was forced to the ground and then put in the back of a police car after officers took her phone.

Right to record

Attempts to document police work using cameras have been at the center of Houston controversies in the past. In 2002, Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies stormed the home of brothers Erik and Sean Carlos Ibarra, drew their guns, arrested them and seized their cameras after one of the brothers photographed a drug raid on a neighboring house. The county agreed to pay $1.7 million to the brothers in 2008 to settle a lawsuit stemming from the incident. Including legal fees, the case cost the county $4 million over seven years. "If there's no legitimate grounds of any sort that the recording is making it impossible for them to do their job, really, individuals have a right to record what they view in public," said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a professor of law at the University of Houston Law Center. Muhammad said he had scheduled a meeting Tuesday with HPD Chief Charles McClelland. "We believe that the mayor and the Houston police chief should hold a focused press conference clearing up to the community and to the patrol officers in the city the legality of a citizen's right to film police performing public service," Muhammad said.

Doctor Sues Former Metro Officer For Wrongful Arrest (Madison, Tenn.)

MADISON, Tenn. – A former Metro Police Officer has been accused of excessive force and that he maliciously assaulted and imprisoned an innocent doctor. It happened in the lobby of a mental health clinic in Madison late last year and now there’s a federal civil lawsuit. Dr. Oranefo Okolo said that then-Metro Police Officer Mike Gallagher came in looking for a suspect. When Okolo told him he couldn’t help because of patient-doctor confidentiality he said Gallagher tried to arrest him for obstruction of justice. “He suddenly came across the table and pushed me up against the wall and told me he was going to handcuff me,” said Okolo. A nurse took a photo of the incident and called 9-1-1. “He didn’t care about the Hippa law in Tennessee that protects patient information,” said Okolo. “I said I expect him to understand I wasn’t able to disclose any information about a patient.” “He simply was trying to protect his patient under Hippa when he was abused by a police officer,” said Mike Galligan, Okolo’s Attorney. He and Attorney John Partin have filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Gallagher and Metro. They claim their client was illegally arrested, handcuffed, manhandled, assaulted and falsely imprisoned. The lawsuit also charges that Metro permitted and tolerated a pattern and practice of unjustified, unreasonable and illegal uses of force. Okolo was never taken to jail. He said a sergeant was called to the scene and immediately ordered him released. He was not charged with any crime. Metro declined to comment on the lawsuit, but confirmed that Gallagher was initially suspended for 15 days and then he retired in good standing. Gallagher could not be reached for comment.